As Soon As The Storm Clears
by ashyblondwaves
Summary: I received a prompts on Tumblr to write Jonathan and Nancy's first reunion after they Byers' move in October. This is going to be in two parts, with the actual reunion happening in part 2. Enjoy!


_It didn't look like Thanksgiving. There's no way it was only Thanksgiving._

Gone were the red and orange leaves that usually dotted the skyline in the fall. They'd been prematurely plucked from their branches by winds with a devastating force. The snow blew in right behind; thick baands that by the end of it all would be measured in feet.

The snowiest Thanksgiving in twenty years, a storm spanning six states and the reason why Nancy and the rest of the Wheelers were forced to stay in Hawkins that year instead of attending the dinner Joyce and Jonathan had been saving and planning for since the move almost two months ago. The one Will and El talked about endlessly at the breakfast table. The one they'd been counting down to since Halloween.

_Nothing was going according to plan. _

Jonathan didn't tell anyone, but he was counting down too. Each day that passed brought Nancy that much closer to being back in his arms and they were almost there. They were going to spend the entire weekend together, and he didn't want to waste a minute of it. He was going to show her around his new town — what he knew of it, anyway — show her the places where he'd found solace when Will and El's bickering became too much. Those places that provided the peace that a pair of headphones in an unfamiliar room could not.

Instead, he sat in the kitchen watching too many potatoes boil on the stove while Joyce periodically checked on the oversized turkey in the oven. They'd bought the biggest one they could find at the supermarket. Plenty for two families, but too much for just one. They'd be eating leftovers for weeks.

_It wasn't a Byers' family dinner table that day._

Things were too quiet. El was usually the first one done, but that day she stabbed at her food but never took a bite. Will on the other hand, actually ate his beans in silence instead of laughing and flicking them across the table at Jonathan and El while ignoring his mother's attempts to get him to stop horsing around. Nobody spoke. They barely even moved. Each one of them impacted by the storm for different reasons. Will and El wouldn't get to see Mike, Jonathan wouldn't see Nancy and with each inch of snow that fell, another layer of guilt fell on Joyce's shoulders. It radiated off of her and seeped across the entire dining room, pulling them all into an uncomfortable and unusual silence.

"I'm finished," Jonathan announced suddenly, standing up and clearing his spot. "I'm going to my room. Just yell for me if you need help cleaning up, mom."

He left without another word but left his door open just a crack, in case anyone needed him.

_His new room felt even emptier and more unfamiliar than usual, somehow._

Nancy should have been there with him. Her body curled toward his while he trailed the tips of his fingers across her skin. He should be listening for her small sighs as he found the most sensitive spots, following those touches with kisses; one for each day they'd been apart. He should be whispering that it was going to be ok, that they wouldn't always be so far apart.

Instead, he lay in bed listening to nothing but the wind. It howled around the old house. Loud, demanding; familiar. Too familiar. Too much like that… _thing_ in the hospital. It played over and over again in his mind, bringing him right back to that day. It happened a lot when things got a little too loud. All Jonathan could see was Nancy's face, all he could hear was that monster's screams.

He couldn't shake it this time. The images flashed through his mind, holding his body hostage as his mind was thrown back to that day. He tried so hard to reach Nancy and if it weren't for El… He was so deep in his thoughts he barely hear the phone ringing and almost missed El's soft knock at the door.

"Nancy's on the phone for you."

Odds are she ran to the phone to answer it, thinking it was Mike.

"Thanks," Jonathan murmured, managing a small but fake smile at his sister. "I'll take it in here."

El nodded and handed the receiver to him, stretching the coiled cord to capacity. He waited for the door to close before he spoke.

"Nancy," he whispered.

"I'm driving out there anyway," Nancy announced hurriedly. "The snow isn't that bad. I can make it."

Jonathan looked out his bedroom window. She was lying. It _was _that bad.

"No you're not."

"I need to see you."

"Then I'll drive out to Hawkins instead," Jonathan suggested. "Your parents can't say no to letting me stay in the basement for the weekend if I'm already there."

They both knew it wouldn't happen. It was just too dangerous to make the drive during the storm. Neither one of them would've made it to the other if they'd tried.

Nancy sighed.

"Maybe the storm will clear out by tomorrow," Jonathan said. He was trying his best to sound positive, but he wasn't very convincing. "Then we can talk about you driving out here. Stay put for now, ok?"

"Why today?" Nancy asked, "Why did it have to be today?"

"I guess Mother Nature thought we didn't have enough shared trauma?" Jonathan quipped, cringing at his attempt at a joke.

"Shut up," Nancy said, laughing and sniffling at the same time. "You know we had grilled cheese for Thanksgiving dinner? We had nothing else since we were supposed to be at your house tonight and all the stores were closed."

"I'll save you some of ours," Jonathan offered. "As you can imagine, we had too much."

"I don't care about the food," Nancy breathed. "I just miss you so much."

"I miss you too," Jonathan sighed. "It feels so empty in this room without you."

"Are you thinking about me in your bedroom, Jonathan?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"Tell me what you're thinking about."

"You," he started, his voice low. "Curled up on your side facing me. I'm running my fingers over your perfect skin. Kissing your shoulders, your neck, your lips."

"I love when you do that," Nancy sighed. "Your lips are always so warm."

It was a nice try at a distraction, but it wasn't going to work. Nothing was going to take his mind off how much he missed Nancy and how angry he was that all the planning, saving, and anticipation was for nothing.

"I just really wish you were here," Jonathan said. He didn't even care that he'd just ruined the moment. "When will I see you now?"

"As soon as the storm clears," Nancy decided. "I'm still going to make this trip, even if it's just for a day instead of the entire weekend."

"You'd do that?" Jonathan asked. "Come out here just for the day?"

"I'd come out there even if it was only for ten minutes," Nancy said. "As long as I get to see you."

"Nancy…" his voice cracked with emotion as tears pricked at his eyes.

He'd been holding it in for so long, ignoring the lump that formed in his throat every time he thought of Nancy so far away. He could hear a soft sob on the other end, set off by his own tears.

"Just when I thought that I've cried enough for the both of us already," Nancy sniffed. "Here comes more."

"I hate this," Jonathan finally admitted, voice cracking. "I hate not knowing when I'll see you again. I want to tell you everything will be ok and we'll see each other soon, but how can I tell you something that I don't even believe anymore?"

"Jonathan, listen to me," Nancy said sternly. "I will be out there as soon as the storm clears, ok? I _will._"

"Ok," Jonathan repeated. "Things will be _ok_."

He said it out loud, but it was more for himself than Nancy.

"I have to go. Mike keeps bugging me to talk to Will and El now," Nancy groused. "Call me later tonight?"

"Nine o'clock on the dot," Jonathan added. "Like always."

"I love you," Nancy murmured. "I'll see you soon. Keep your bed warm for me."

"I love you, too."

"As soon as the storm clears?" Nancy asked.

"As soon as the storm clears," Jonathan repeated.


End file.
